Compared by criteria, not ranked

Best Free Calorie Counter Apps: What Each Free Plan Includes

A free calorie counter can mean a free trial, a stripped-down plan or a plan with ads. This page separates them by asking five questions of each app's own pages: is there a free plan, and does it include barcode scanning, no ads, macros and any AI logging?

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How we compared

The criteria, chosen before we filled in the table:

Has a free plan
A trial ends; a free plan does not.
Barcode scanner on the free plan
Scanning is how most people log packaged food.
No ads on the free plan
Ads are how many free plans are paid for.
Macros on the free plan
Protein, carbs and fat are what many trackers lock first.
AI logging on the free plan
The newest feature, and the one most often paid.

What we checked: each app’s own site (home, pricing, feature and help pages), on October 23, 2026. Not review sites, blogs or app-store listings.
“Not listed” means we found nothing on the pages cited; it does not mean the app lacks the feature. Prices are left out because they change and differ by country.
Order: alphabetical by app name, CalorTracker included. It is not a ranking, because the right app depends on which criterion matters to you; the section after the table lists, per criterion, which apps do it.
CalorTracker’s own row comes from our code, not from a web page.

The comparison

7 apps compared on 5 criteria, in alphabetical order
App	Has a free plan	Barcode scanner on the free plan	No ads on the free plan	Macros on the free plan	AI logging on the free plan
CalorTracker (our app)	Yes. Free plan with daily AI limits	No. No barcode scanner	Yes. No ads	Yes. Calories and macros are free	Yes. 1 photo scan and 2 text logs a day
Carb Manager	Yes. Basic account at $0.00^[1]	Yes. Free for all users^[2]	Not listed. Not listed on the pages checked^[1]	Yes. Net carb and keto tracking are free^[3]	No. AI photo logging is a Premium feature^[4]
Cronometer	Yes. A free Basic account^[5]	Yes. Unlimited use in a Basic account^[5]	Not listed. Gold is described as ad-free; not stated for Basic^[5]	Yes. Calories and up to 95 nutrients, free of charge^[5]	Not listed. AI Photo Logging is listed; whether it is free or Gold is not stated^[6]
Eat This Much	Yes. Free plan with daily meal plans^[7]	Yes. Barcode foods are free^[7]	Not listed. Not listed on the pages checked^[7]	Yes. Food tracking is free^[7]	Not listed. Not listed on the pages checked^[7]
MacroFactor	No. No free version^[8]	No. No free version^[8]	Yes. None; the app has no ads^[8]	No. No free version^[8]	No. No free version^[8]
MyFitnessPal	Yes. A free tier^[9]	No. Barcode scan is Premium^[9]	No. Free users see ads^[9]	Not listed. Custom macro goals are Premium; other macro display is not stated^[9]	No. Meal Scan is Premium^[9]
MyNetDiary	Yes. Free^[10]	Yes. Free^[10]	Yes. None^[10]	Yes. Free^[10]	Yes. A limited number of Meal Scans on free accounts^[11]

Last verified October 23, 2026. Numbers in brackets point to the sources below.

One app at a time: MyFitnessPal alternative, Cronometer alternative, MyNetDiary alternative. CalorTracker features mentioned here: All features, AI food scanner, Macro tracker. Our post on how accurate AI calorie counting is explains why every AI estimate should be checked.

By criterion

Apps whose cell says yes, in alphabetical order. Read the table for the conditions (Premium, limits).

Has a free plan: CalorTracker, Carb Manager, Cronometer, Eat This Much, MyFitnessPal, MyNetDiary
Barcode scanner on the free plan: Carb Manager, Cronometer, Eat This Much, MyNetDiary
No ads on the free plan: CalorTracker, MacroFactor, MyNetDiary
Macros on the free plan: CalorTracker, Carb Manager, Cronometer, Eat This Much, MyNetDiary
AI logging on the free plan: CalorTracker, MyNetDiary

Worth knowing

MyNetDiary's home page says an account is not needed to start, and lists barcode scanning, macro tracking, water tracking, a diary and exercise tracking as free, with no ads.^[10]
Eat This Much's free plan is built around single days: daily meal plans, food tracking, custom foods and recipes and barcode foods. Weekly plans and the automatic grocery list are Premium.^[7]
Cronometer's free-version page says its Basic account includes custom meals and recipes. Its Gold plan is described as ad-free.^[5]

Where CalorTracker falls short

No barcode scanner on any plan: packaged food is logged from a photo of the label or by hand.
AI logging on the free plan is small: one photo scan and two text logs a day.
Voice logging and meal plans need Premium.
The iOS app is not public yet: today CalorTracker runs on the web and on Android.

Sources and last verified

Every fact about another app on this page comes from that app’s own site, checked on October 23, 2026. Plans and limits change, so check the app before you decide.

We re-verify this page every quarter. Next review due by January 21, 2027. We also re-read every source before a page goes live if its facts are more than 90 days old.

Carb Manager Premium page: https://www.carbmanager.com/premium (checked 2026-10-23)
Carb Manager help: scanning barcodes: https://help.carbmanager.com/docs/log-foods-by-scanning-barcodes-and-snapping-pictures (checked 2026-10-23)
Carb Manager macros tracker page: https://www.carbmanager.com/feature-details/x3xqkreaabj8283a/macros-tracker/ (checked 2026-10-23)
Carb Manager home page: https://www.carbmanager.com/ (checked 2026-10-23)
Cronometer: what the free version includes: https://www.cronometer.com/features/free-nutrition-tracking-app.html (checked 2026-10-23)
Cronometer home page: https://cronometer.com/ (checked 2026-10-23)
Eat This Much pricing page: https://www.eatthismuch.com/pricing (checked 2026-10-23)
MacroFactor app page: https://macrofactor.com/macrofactor/ (checked 2026-10-23)
MyFitnessPal Premium page: https://www.myfitnesspal.com/premium (checked 2026-10-23)
MyNetDiary home page: https://www.mynetdiary.com/ (checked 2026-10-23)
MyNetDiary Meal Scan page: https://www.mynetdiary.com/ai-food-scanner.html (checked 2026-10-23)

Frequently asked questions

Which apps here have a barcode scanner on the free plan?

According to their own pages: Carb Manager, Cronometer, Eat This Much and MyNetDiary. MyFitnessPal lists it as Premium, and CalorTracker does not have one.

Is CalorTracker really free?

There is a free plan: manual food and activity logging, water tracking, one AI photo scan and two AI text logs a day, and 10 messages a day with the Pepperly coach. Premium removes the AI limits and adds voice logging and meal plans, with a 10-day trial.

Why are prices not in the table?

Prices change and differ by country and currency. A stale price would be a false claim, so the page names what is free and leaves the price to each app's own page.

Does CalorTracker have a barcode scanner?

No. For packaged food, photograph the nutrition label so the AI can read it, or type the numbers in.

Try it on your own meals

Start free, log your first meal from a photo, and see whether it suits the way you track.

Start free on the web

Every app name is a trademark of its respective owner; this page is an independent comparison.